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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Postcard Diaries
Wednesday 07 March @ 14:00:19 |
 by CHRISTOPHER KOZA
Visual and musical art can often blend together, and that’s what happened in recent months here in the Twin Cities as notable musicians and visual artists have passed through our galleries.
 Zak Sally, formerly of the band Low, is involved with Buena Ventura press, which recently presented the Kramers Ergot exhibition at the Janet Wallace Art Gallery at Macalester College. Last year Rogue Buddha Gallery showcased etching and paintings by John Langford, of the Mekons. And currently Creative Electric is displaying work by Mark Mothersbaugh, of DEVO, in the ever-expanding archive of Postcard Diaries.
Mothersbaugh has been a prolific visual artist dating back to the days of DEVO, when he began sketching tiny “postcard art” for friends and family. Some of these postcards read like comics, with no discernable beginning or end, especially when viewed in large batches. The relationship between the separate images has less to do with a linear story, instead unraveling in a murmuring, roving dreamscape, populated by wonky robots, Elvises, sex organs, crack-Seuss worms and other welcome oddities.
Postcard Diaries found its seed in the tale of a touring musician’s communiqué with family and friends. As a member of former New Wave sensation DEVO, Mothersbaugh presently tours the country as a visual artist, with Postcard Diaries stopping in Cleveland, Philadelphia and New Orleans.
Dave Salmala’s Creative Electric Studios is one of the most versatile galleries in the Twin Cities, serving as a performance art space as well as a visual art exhibition space. Creative Electric was also the first real home for Electric Arc Radio, a group that now performs the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis. Creative Electric’s eclectic art openings have a reputation as being must-see events, and last Friday night’s unveiling of the Mothersbaugh show didn’t deter visitors, despite a hearty snowfall.
Almost all of the pieces in Postcard Diaries are extremely limited edition prints. “Super Thing 3000” offers to do it all, as Mothersbaugh combines two essential innovations in the history of humanity: The wheel and the robot. In this image, a robot stands with an automobile tire slung around his shoulder. In “Mexican Soap Opera,” a wild luchador (Mexican wrestler) scowls and threatens from atop a pile of organs, baffling and accosting the viewer, and providing a visual lecture in Spanish anatomy. “Aero Fund” gives us a hooded pilot who could be Snoopy’s rival the Red Baron, who keeps a boxcar-dragonfly plane from crashing into an aphid-green canopy.
From the timeless party-classic “Whip it,” to hordes of television shows ("Rugrats"), movie scores ("The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") and video games ("The Sims 2"), Mothersbaugh’s captivating creativity and excellent work is nearly impossible to avoid.
In Postcard Diaries, these congruent, yet delicately fragmented postcard art gems—from which Mothersbaugh compiled more than 30,000 unique works—is a testament to his persistent genius. ||
Postcard Diaries runs through Mar. 31. Creative Electric Studios is located at 2201 2nd St. NE, Mpls. 612-706-7879 or creativeelectricstudios.com. Gallery hours are Sat. 11 a.m.–4 p.m. and by appointment. For a glimpse into the creative mind of Mark Mothersbaugh, visit mutatovisual.com.
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